Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Encyclopedia
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States
federal government's Environmental Protection Agency
, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air
and Clean Water Act
s, as well as numerous other environmental statute
s. The Administrator is nominated by the President of the United States
and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate
. The office of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 in legislation that created the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA Administrator is customarily accorded Cabinet
rank
by the President and sits with the President, Vice President
, and the 15 Cabinet Secretaries. Since the late 1980s, there has been a movement to make the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency a Cabinet Secretary, thus making the EPA a 16th Cabinet department, dealing with environmental affairs. The Administrator of the EPA is equivalent to the position of Minister of the Environment
in other countries.
The current Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is Lisa P. Jackson
, who was designated by President Barack Obama
on December 15, 2008, and confirmed by unaninimous consent on January 22, 2009 by the United States Senate
.
was an Assistant Administrator at the time. They are not subject to Senate confirmation to serve as the Acting Administrator, though to continue to serve as a full-fledged Administrator (as in the case of Lee M. Thomas or Stephen L. Johnson), they must be confirmed by the Senate.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
federal government's Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air
Clean Air Act
A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
and Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...
s, as well as numerous other environmental statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s. The Administrator is nominated by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. The office of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 in legislation that created the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA Administrator is customarily accorded Cabinet
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
rank
Cabinet rank
A person who is of Cabinet rank holds a ministerial position in a government. They sit in Cabinet and form the highest body of leadership in a government.-United Kingdom:...
by the President and sits with the President, Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, and the 15 Cabinet Secretaries. Since the late 1980s, there has been a movement to make the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency a Cabinet Secretary, thus making the EPA a 16th Cabinet department, dealing with environmental affairs. The Administrator of the EPA is equivalent to the position of Minister of the Environment
Minister of the environment
An environment minister is a cabinet position in charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation...
in other countries.
The current Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa Perez Jackson is an American chemical engineer currently serving as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency . Previously, she worked at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for 6 years, first as an assistant commissioner and later as commissioner...
, who was designated by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on December 15, 2008, and confirmed by unaninimous consent on January 22, 2009 by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
List of Administrators
| Administrator | Term of Office | President(s) President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... served under |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| William D. Ruckelshaus | December 4, 1970 – April 30, 1973 | Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
|
| Robert Fri (Acting) |
April 30, 1973 – September 12, 1973 | ||
| Russell E. Train Russell E. Train Russell Errol Train was the second Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency , from September 1973 to January 1977, and the Founder Chairman Emeritus of World Wildlife Fund . As head of the EPA under U.S... |
 |
September 12, 1973 – January 20, 1977 | Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... , Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974... |
| John Quarles, Jr. (Acting) |
January 21, 1977 – March 6, 1977 | Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office... |
|
| Douglas M. Costle Douglas M. Costle Douglas Michael Costle was one of the architects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency , and he served President Jimmy Carter as EPA Administrator from 1977 to 1981.- Early life and education :... |
 |
March 7, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | |
| Steve Jellinek (Acting) |
January 21, 1981 – January 25, 1981 | Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.... |
|
| Walter Barber, Jr. (Acting) |
January 25, 1981 – May 19, 1981 | ||
| Anne M. Gorsuch | May 20, 1981 – March 9, 1983 | ||
| William Ruckelshaus William Ruckelshaus William Doyle Ruckelshaus is an American attorney and, several times, U.S. government official. He served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States... |
May 18, 1983 – January 4, 1985 | ||
| Lee M. Thomas Lee M. Thomas Lee Muller Thomas was head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from 1985 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan... |
 |
February 8, 1985 – January 20, 1989 | |
| William K. Reilly William K. Reilly William K. Reilly was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and on many boards of directors... |
 |
February 6, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to... |
| Carol Browner |  |
January 23, 1993 – January 19, 2001 | Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation... |
| Christine Todd Whitman Christine Todd Whitman Christine Todd "Christie" Whitman is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She was New... |
 |
January 31, 2001 – June 27, 2003 | George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... |
| Marianne Lamont Horinko Marianne Lamont Horinko Marianne Lamont Horinko served as Acting Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from July 14, 2003 to November 5, 2003 during the first term of President George W. Bush. Prior to this appointment Horinko was Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and... (Acting) |
July 14, 2003 – November 5, 2003 | ||
| Michael Leavitt |  |
November 6, 2003 – January 26, 2005 | |
| Stephen L. Johnson Stephen L. Johnson Stephen L. Johnson was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush during the second term of his administration... |
 |
January 26, 2005 – January 20, 2009 | |
| Lisa P. Jackson Lisa P. Jackson Lisa Perez Jackson is an American chemical engineer currently serving as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency . Previously, she worked at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for 6 years, first as an assistant commissioner and later as commissioner... |
 |
January 23, 2009 – present | Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... |
Acting Administrators
Note that Acting Administrators usually assume the office in the interim period between the resignation of a previous Administrator and the confirmation of his or her successor, including during the transition period between two presidential administrations, before the successor has been nominated and confirmed. Acting Administrators come from within the EPA and usually hold an office that is subject to Senate confirmation before becoming the Acting Administrator. Linda Fisher and Stephen L. Johnson had been served as Deputy Administrator when they became Acting Administrator. Marianne Lamont HorinkoMarianne Lamont Horinko
Marianne Lamont Horinko served as Acting Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from July 14, 2003 to November 5, 2003 during the first term of President George W. Bush. Prior to this appointment Horinko was Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and...
was an Assistant Administrator at the time. They are not subject to Senate confirmation to serve as the Acting Administrator, though to continue to serve as a full-fledged Administrator (as in the case of Lee M. Thomas or Stephen L. Johnson), they must be confirmed by the Senate.
See also
- Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
- Presidential Task Force on the Auto IndustryPresidential Task Force on the Auto IndustryThe Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry is an ad hoc group of United States cabinet-level and other officials that was formed to deal with the financial bail out of automakers Chrysler Corporation and General Motors....